Golden
by ncfan
Summary: Okay, Shikamaru will admit it: he's partial to blondes. Gen. and pairings.


**Characters**: Shikamaru, Ino, Temari, Shiho, Naruto, Tsunade**  
>Summary<strong>: Okay, Shikamaru will admit it: he's partial to blondes. Gen. and pairings.**  
>Pairings<strong>: slight ShikaTema, other pairings briefly mentioned**  
>Author's Note<strong>: It suddenly occurred to me that Shikamaru is surrounded by blondes.**  
>Disclaimer<strong>: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

><p>The sound of running water comes from the next room and Shikamaru, reaching forward with almost agonizing slowness, takes his coffee mug in his hand. He gulps down the smooth, utterly undiluted liquid—no need to rush and certainly no need to put anything like cream or milk or (he shudders) sugar in it.<p>

His mother's taking a shower and Shikaku's off on a mission. Shikamaru sits at the kitchen table alone, drinking his coffee, absently filling out squares in the newspaper crossword and waiting for the sun to break over the horizon.

_4 Down. What is a six-letter word for 'golden'?_

Shikamaru smirks. _Well that's easy. _He takes up his pencil—rule number one: never do a crossword in ink—and spells out _b-l-o-n-d-e._ Sure enough, it fits with the other words that run through it perfectly. _As usual, the crossword is no match for the intellectual prowess of Nara Shikamaru, even if he isn't done with his coffee yet._

Soon enough, that smirk of his turns to a grimace. _Blonde. The undoubted bane of my existence_.

He's got to drain this coffee cup soon. Shikamaru promised Ino he'd bring by that designer magazine of his mother's by six-thirty, but unfortunately getting there on time is being hampered by the fact that said mother made him swear he'd actually stick around to said goodbye to her this morning. If Shikamaru didn't know better he'd swear that Yoshino's taking extra long in the shower on purpose.

_If I'm a quarter of an hour late she probably won't be mad, but if I'm not there by seven Ino's gonna freak. Man, what is with all these crazy women?_

Come to think of it, Ino's always been a bit nuts. She was nuts when she was a little girl with white hair so short she was mistaken for an effeminate boy by those less than observant. She was nuts when she first became obsessed with Uchiha Sasuke and first got the idea that she needed to cut her hair. She was nuts when she became a genin, then a chunin. Truth be told, Ino's nuts now, on the right side of womanhood and proud to let everybody know it.

It's kind of nice though, all things considered. It's nice only because Ino likes him for some strange reason that Shikamaru has yet to fathom and because even if she's nuts Ino's always been a good comrade. It's not a bad feeling to have her beside him in battle.

The rush of water next door in the bathroom shows no sign of abating and Shikamaru sighs, picking at his toast before wolfing down the slice the way a starving man would. If he's not on time for Ino he's not going to be on time to meet Temari at her apartment afterwards. Temari's slightly more understanding about these things than Ino but the teasing that would follow him all day is bound to give Shikamaru a headache.

Out of all the troublesome women in Shikamaru's life, Temari is without a doubt the most confusing of the lot. Maybe it's something about growing up in the desert. She's probably brain-damaged from all the sun; yeah, that's probably it.

Shikamaru has been assigned to be Temari's bodyguard as long as she's been Sunagakure's ambassador to Konoha. Normally such a thing would be considered an insult to the ambassador, but Tsunade is taking no chances with the safety of the Kazekage's sister; if Temari is injured by some would-be assassin while on Konoha territory Gaara is hardly going to take it well.

Of course, today is an off-day for Temari so being her bodyguard is essentially going to entail following her around places, because of course, Temari loves to go see literally everything there is to see in Konoha when she doesn't have to work. _At least I get paid for this. _Shikamaru is seriously beginning to wonder if she's scoping the place out for a second invasion.

No, it's more likely that Temari's just curious. For all that she's one of the most hard-boiled women Shikamaru has ever met (and this is including his mother), she shows an intense curiosity when subjected to surroundings not her native ones.

"_You know, I didn't think you'd like it here much when you were first assigned to be Konoha's ambassador."_

_Shikamaru leans against a tree and smirks while Temari stands in a shaft of sunlight and stares up the branches overhead._

_The Suna kunoichi shrugs a little, her black skirt brushing against her legs in a soft breeze. "I don't like how much it rains, but… It's… green here." Temari meets Shikamaru's eyes and smiles an odd smile, almost girlish in its guileless honesty. "I like that; green's always been my favorite color."_

_That's probably the most harmless smile Shikamaru has ever seen on Temari's face, but out of all of them he doesn't know that a smile of Temari's has ever made him so uncomfortable._

It's startling that someone like Temari would list green as her favorite color, but that's just one more thing that Shikamaru can chalk up as confusing about her.

_7 Across. Name a famous actress of the last fifty years; think sweet thoughts._

Well that's simple enough. As much as Shikamaru has loathed having to sit through Yoshino's chick flicks and cheesy, overdone romance films with her, at least it's done something positive for his cache of useless (read: crossword) information.

"Seven across," Shikamaru mutters. "Tanaka Shiho." It fits, though no one needs to tell Shikamaru that.

And that brings him to the Shiho in his life.

To this day Shikamaru's not sure how Shiho got to be a kunoichi. Yes, she's got a brain to be the envy of the large percentage of Konohagakure but that simply isn't enough. She's not a ruthless girl like Temari; she's not a seductive one like Ino. Shiho doesn't have the stomach for killing and violence terrifies her. During the Akatsuki's invasion she just struck Shikamaru as being so utterly vulnerable; the urge to protect her was overwhelming.

_All of my problems originate with women, and everything stupid I do is somehow related to a woman. So. Very. Troublesome._

Case in point: Shikamaru shielded Shiho from harm during the Akatsuki's invasion and got a broken leg and an exceptionally terrified young woman for his troubles.

She's a sweet girl, though. Shiho's the least troublesome woman in Shikamaru's life and he can't recall a single occasion in which she has ever felt the need to nag him. Not once. Shikamaru says hello to her when he has reason to be near the Cryptology Division headquarters and for the life of him, he hasn't got a clue why she keeps blushing every time she sees him.

Through the wall, Shikamaru can hear the sharp rusty squeak of the faucet being turned off; all whispering swishes of water abruptly die. For a few minutes, there is silence. Then comes the telltale dull roar of the blow dryer.

_I give it ten minutes, tops._

Shikamaru taps his pen against the table. _9 Down. Name the technique for which the Yondaime Hokage was best known._

_Brother, are they even trying?_

Immediately, the pen scratches out 'Rasengan' and Shikamaru shakes his head and downs the last of his coffee. The dregs are a little cooler than he'd like but no matter; Shikamaru's learned to deal with things like that.

_Naruto really pulled through during the Invasion. _

Without a doubt, Uzumaki Naruto has been the biggest enigma of Shikamaru's life. By all rights the boy should be ignored by all and dismissed by all. By all rights, Naruto should be nothing more than an annoying, loud-mouthed dot on the edge of everyone's radar. His constant spouted speeches about idealism and friendship and all sundry have no substance and no value in the world of shinobi.

Naruto should be of little consequence to the world at large. But somehow, somehow, Naruto had caught everyone's attention. Maybe it was because of the sheer sincerity in those blue eyes. Maybe it was because he was so dynamic, so compelling. Hell, maybe it was because he shouted so loudly that absolutely no one but the profoundly deaf could possibly hope not to hear him. Whatever the reason, no one can help but to notice Naruto and no one can help but to listen to him.

_Somehow, Naruto always beats all the odds, every last one. _He even beat the odds that nothing could break through Shikamaru's rock hard apathy.

Naruto is strange. Naruto is weird and wonderful. Naruto is counted as one of Shikamaru's closest friends and Shikamaru, he eyes Naruto with nothing short of incredulous fascination. Never has such a loud, piercing, irritating voice been so absorbing.

The bathroom door creaks open and Yoshino, feeling uncharacteristically affectionate this morning, leans down to kiss her son's cheek. The ends of her wet hair tickle Shikamaru's cheek. "Have a nice day, dear." Her tone is unusually mild; something's got her in an exceptionally good mood today, but Shikamaru is definitely _not_ complaining.

With that, the pen drop against the kitchen table like a hot coal. Shikamaru can't afford to wait any longer. With the magazine rolled up in his hand, Shikamaru starts towards the front door.

"Don't forget to stop by Tsunade-sama's office at four." Yoshino's tone is closer to usual at this—sharp and stern, just starting to 'nag'—and Shikamaru doesn't look at her and only waves a hand in response as he leaves the door.

"Yeah Mom, sure."

And who could possibly forget Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure, without a doubt the most troublesome woman of the lot because she's the one in charge? _We are all wage slaves to the Hokage; behold her golden beauty and… whatever.  
><em>

Shikamaru gets halfway down the street and he rolls his eyes and casts an absent eye towards the magazine he's bringing to Ino.

Okay, he'll admit it: he's partial to blondes. In fact, Shikamaru naturally gravitates towards blondes. He has no idea why, but when it he admits it the act is like confessing to a murder or something. It's something that's supposed to be scandalous or at the very least inappropriate, but really, Shikamaru can't be bothered to care.

He's got places to be and troublesome women to avoid angering.


End file.
